Wall cleaning apparatus



Feb. 13, 194m.v W SISMAN 2,190,576

WALL CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Jul'y 18, 1958 n j@ 6' 3nnentor Marre QS/S/y/ Cttomegs v Patented Feb. 13,l 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates, in general, to wall and ceiling cleaning devices and, in particular, to that type which is not only reversible in motion but is adapted for scrubbing action as well as for wiping action. l

The main object of this invention is to improve a wall and ceiling cleaning apparatus so that same is adapted for scrubbing surfaces as well as for thereafter wiping same, the scrubbing action taking place during the rotation of the brushes in one direction with said brushes being sprayed with a cleaning solution from a spray member, and the wiping action taking place during the rotation of the brushes in an opposite direction with said spray inoperative and said brushes and said spray member in rubbing contact with each other for removing as much fluid as possible from said brushes.

Another object 4is to adapt the above type of apparatus for the change-over from scrubbing action to wiping action so that said change-over is accomplished easily, quickly and effectively, said change-over being effected by a minimum number of manual operations.

Another object is to construct a cleaning apparatus which is light and easy to handle, which is readily adjustable in length, which is easily and quickly converted from a scrubbing device to a wiping device, which is adapted for the employment therewith of a cleaning solution which might otherwise be too hot or too strong if cleaning by hand were resorted to, which may be employed in disinfecting sick rooms or scrubbing and wiping interior or exterior surfaces, and which may be employed without the use of ladders or scaffolding,

, Other objects and advantages will become readily apparent from a reference to the following specication taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional view of the cleaning apparatus and showing in detail the invention incorporated therein, said apparatus being shown in scrubbing position;

Figs. 2 and.3 are detailed sectional views taken along the lines 2-2 and 3 3, respectively. in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a detailed sectional view taken along the lines 4-4 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view, taken transversely through the mechanism chamber,

and showing the apparatus in wiping position;

and l Fig. 6 is a diagrammatical view of the cleaning apparatus, in assembly and ready for use.

A pair of telescoplcally arranged tubular body members I0 and I2 is shown in the drawing, the outer member I0 adjustably supporting the inner member I2 against relative movement with respect to member I0 by means of a threaded thumb 5 set screw I3 which screws into va threaded bore at the top end of member I0 and up against the wall of member I2, and the inner member I2 being integrally formed at its outer end with an enlarged casing or housing, generally indicated at I4.

The bottom Wall I6 of the casing I4 diverges laterally from side to side of the tubular member I2 in an upward direction. The front and back walls I8 and 20, respectively, of the casing I4 l5 diverge from the front and back of the tubular member I2 in an upward direction, the front wall I8 extending to a higher elevation than the rear wall 20, and the rear wall 20 being spaced considerably farther from the axis of tubular member 20 I2 than wall I8. For providing the end walls 0f the casing I4 the bottom wall I6 is perpherally ilanged, as at 22, and supported in the casing I4 directly above the end of tubular member I2 is an enclosed chamber 24 dened by front and rear' 25 walls 25 and 26, end walls 21, and top and bottom walls 28 and 29.

The walls 21 of chamber 24 divide the casing I4 into three chambers, namely, two end brush chambers 30 and the intermediate machinery 30 chamber 24.

A bracket 32, secured to the front wall 25 of chamber 24 by bolts 34, s provided with an upper horizontal bearing 33 adapted for` centrally supporting a 'horizontal shaft 36 extending in either direction from and laterally of the bearing 33. each laterally extending portion of shaft 36 having xedly secured thereto, but removable therefrom, a brush 38 provided with the usual bristles. Between the brushes 38 and bearing 33 the shaft 36 is additionally supported by the end walls 21 of chamber 24,

Y such as by being journaled therein, as at 40, and

between each end wall 21 and the bearing 33 there is provided on shaft 36 a pair of spaced, 45.

opposed bevel gears 42 and 44. Gears 42 and 44 are locked to shaft 36 so as to rotate there- 'with and so as to have no longitudinal movement relative thereto. During inoperation of the device each of the gears 42 and 44 is equally 50 spaced from the extended central axis of the inner tubular member I2 and from each end of bearing 33.

Extending upwardly through the members I0 and I2, from a motor 46 and in driven connec- 55 tion with the shaft thereof, is a vertical, flexible driving shaft 48 the end of which opposite the end connected to said motor shaft being formed with a head 58 which is coupled to the hub portion 52 of a bevel gear 54 for driving the latter. The hub 52 of gear 54 is journaled in a vertical 'bearing 56 provided in the lower portion of bracket 32, and the axis of gear 54 is caused to be normal to the co-axes of gears 42 and 44 and, during inoperation of the device, equally spaced from the opposing faces of gears 42 and 44.

Formed in the walls of outer and inner tubular members |8Yand I2 is a pair of adjacent, vertical, longitudinal slots 58 and 68, respectively, slot 68 in memberl I2 being narrower and shorter than slot 58 in member I8. Extending through the slots 58 and 68 is a cross head member, generally indicated at 62, comprising an inner guide portion 64 (see Figs. 2 and 4) overlappingly engaging the inner wall of member I2 adjacent the slot 68 and having a vertical bore 66 formed therein, a shoulder Vportion 68 fltting into the slot 68. an exteriorly threaded, reduced neck portion 18 extending outwardly of the slot 58 in member I8, and a plate portion 12 tting into the slot 68 in member I2 and extending downwardly from the shoulder portion 68. A collar 14, having an inner diameter substantially equal to the outer diameter of the neck portion 18 of the member 62 and an outer width substantially equal to the Width of slot 58 in member I8, is adapted for fitting over said neck portion 18 within said slot 58 up against the outer wall member I2. A wing nut 16 is screwed onto the neck portion 18 of member 62 and is adapted for'holding members 62 and 14 in place with respect to tubular members I8 and I2.

Within the tubular members |8 and I2 there is disposed a rigid rod 18 one end of which passes through the bore 66 in member 62 and is held against relative sliding movement with respect thereto by means of the stem 88 of a control handle 82, stem 88 being threadedly engageable with an internally threaded bore 84 in member 62 and adapted for being screwed into bore 84 for frictionally contacting rod 18 to prevent sliding movement of the latter with respect to member 62. The other end of rod 18 is xedly secured to a collar 86 which is externally mounted for reciprocation about the body of bearing 56 of stationary bracket 32 within chamber 24, the reciprocations of collar 86 being governed and controlled by the rod 18, and collar 86 being normally spaced from and below an annular shoulder 81 formed on bearing 56.

An arm 88 integral with and extending from one side of collar 86 in chamber 24 has pivotally secured thereto one end of an arm 88 (see Fig. 1) the other end of arm 98 being pivotally secured to one end of a bellY crank 82. Bell crank 92 is pivotally secured intermediate its ends to the end 0f an arm 84 which is formed integral with and extends from a side of the bearing 56 of the rigid bracket 32, the free end of bell crank 82 being provided with a fork 86 (see Fig. 3) which engages 'an annular grooved slot 88 formed in the hub of gear 44. It will be seen that, with proper manipulation of the wing nut 16, which is ex' plained later, movement of the rod 18 upwardly from the position shown in Fig. l will force the collar 86 upwardly along the bearing 56 of bracket 32 to the shoulder 81 formed on the member 56, the upward movement of the collar 86 causing counter-clockwise movement of the bell crank 92 about its pivot and a resulting left-hand movement of the brush shaft 36, the gear 44 being iixedly secured to said shaft. Therefore, if motor 46 is driving gear 54 through the flexible shaft 48, and gear 54 is in mesh with gear 44, as shown in Fig; l, the brush shaft 36 will be rotating in one direction; but, this direction is readily changed to an opposite direction by forcing rod l18 upwardly, as described, which disengages gears 44 and 54 and brings into engagement gears 42 and 54 and causes opposite rotation of the shaft36 and brushes 38.

Within chamber 24 and to a lower portionl of the front wall 25 thereof there is rigidly mounted an end o'f a bracket |84. The opposite end of bracket |84 is adapted for rigidly supporting a valve body |86 in which body |88 is mounted an oscillatably rotatable valve stem |88, the inner end of valve stem |88 being provided with the usual bore (not shown) for communicating one side of the valve with the other and which is adapted, by partial rotation of the stem |88, to

` cut of! one side of the valve'from the other, and

the outer end of valve stem |88 having rigidly secured thereto, against relative rotation therewith, the end of an arm II8. Arm |I8 extends rearwardly of the outer end of stem I 88 and to the free end of arm I I8 is pivotally supported an end of anarm |I2, the free end of arm ||2 being directed upwardly and pivotally connected to the reciprocally mounted collar 86. It will be seen that movement of rod 18, which causes move.

ment of the collar 86 for. intermeshing gears 44 and 54 or gears 42 and 54, also causes, through said movement of collar 86, the simultaneous rotation of valvestem |88 in valve body |86 in one direction or the other in accordance with the pull or push exerted by arm II2 on arm II8, arm II8 being xedly secured to the outer end of valve stem |88. The setting of valve stem |88 will be presently discussed.

On the rear face of reciprocally mounted collar 86 there is a lug formation I|4 to which is pivotally connected an end of an arm II6, the free end of arm ||6 being pivotally connected to an end of a bell crank |I8 (see Figs. 2 and 5). Bell crank II8, intermediate its ends, is pivoted to a lug formation |28 formed on the rear face of rigid bracket 32 between the Vbearing portions 33 and56. The free end of bell crank |I8 is provided integrally with an elongated sleeve portion |22, and by this sleeve portion |22 of pivoted bell crank I|8 is supported a pipe length |24 which extends on either side of the sleeve |22 through arcuate slots I 26 in end walls 21 of chamber 24 into chambers 38 to positions rearwardly adjacent the brushes 38, said extended portions offsaid pipe I 24 adjacent said brushes 38 being perforated along their lengths exteriorly of chamber 24 and interiorly of chambers 38. In connection with the pipe length |24, which is driven arcuately within and along the slots |26, it is to be noted that movement of rod 18 not only causes collar 86 to effectuate engagement between the gears 44 and 54 or between the gears 42 and 54 and to effectuate partial rotation of the valve stem |88 relatively to valve body |86 in one direction or the other, but simultaneously, through the movement of bell crank I |8, it causes the arcuate movement of pipe |24 along slots |26 in one direction or the other. It is pointed out that the slots |26 in the end walls 21 of chamber 24 each has a center of curvature on the extended, xed pivotal axis of bell crank II8. that the slots |26 have one end limit substantially outwardly of a plane which is tangent to the bristle ends of brushes 38 and another end limit substantially inwardly of said plane, and that the width of the slots |26 is substantially equal to the outer diameter of the pipe |24 for guiding same therealong and for aidingin the support of pipe |24 by sleeve portion |22 of bell crank ||8.

Leading from a pressure tank |28, which is preferably equipped with a pumping apparatus |30 and which tank is filled with high pressure cleaning iiuid of any selected constituency, there is a ilexible fluid feed line |32, the free end of line |32 communicating with one side of the valve y lbody |06. To the other side of valve body |06 there is connected one end of a hose length |34, the other end of hose |34 leading into and being connected to an opening provided therefor in the pipe |24. It is obvious that the pressure tankv |28 and pumping apparatus |30 can take any desired form, and that same can be entirely dispensed with if city water is suillcientv for cleaning purposes since, in the latter case, it will only be necessary to connect the supply line |32 to aV source of said city water which is usually maintained at a pressure sufficient for carrying out the herein invention.

A drain pipe |36, provided in the bottom wall 28 of chamber 24 and extending between the downwardly converging sides of the bottom wall I6 of casing |4 above tubular member I2, communicates intermediate its ends with a drain conduit |38 which passes downwardly through the tubular members I and I2 and into a waste tank |40, said conduit |38 conveying into said tank |40 the soiled or waste fluid from the casing I4. It is obvious that conduit |38 can be inserted into the usual drain outlet usually found inside or outside buildings, if desired, thereby eliminating the tank |40. Also, if desired, a wheeled carriage |42 may be employed for supporting the motor 46, pressure tank |28, pumping apparatus |30 and waste tank |40 in a mobile manner. Motor 46 is connected in the usual manner to the usual electrical circuit by means of the usual insulated electrical conduits If desired, the cleaning device may be equipped with a rheostat, diagrammatically illustrated at tion (Fig. 2).

|46, connected to the plate 12 of cross head member 62 and made readily accessible to the operator, said rheostat being connected in the motor circuit by means of conduits |48 for selectively controlling the speed of motor 46.

In Figs. 1 and 2 there is illustrated the cleaning device in wall scrubbing position. Ihe motor 46 is presumably operating the flexible shaft 48 which is adapted for driving the gearl 54 in a counter-clockwise direction (Fig. l) so as to drive gear 44 in a counter-clockwise direc- Gear 44, being locked to brush shaft 36, drives said shaft counter-clockwise (Fig. 2). Valve |06- |08 is presumably open at this time to permit fluid to flow upwardly through the feed line |32 into the perforated pipe |24, thus spraying the rotating brushes 38 which are presumably being held in contact with the wall being cleaned by manual force exerted on handle I0| 2 of the device. It is to be noted that, in the scrubbing position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the pipe |24 is in spaced position from the bristle ends of the brushes 38, said pipe being in the lowermost limit of the slots |26 in the end walls 21 of chamber 24. The spacing between the shoulder 81 on rigid bracket 32 and the slidable collar 86 is also to be noted in these iigures.

The wiping operation, the position for which appearing in Fig. 5, follows the scrubbing operation. To adapt the device for wiping, it is necessary to loosen nut 16 to release the hold of collar 14 on the inner tubular member I2, while at the same time maintaining the hold of handle stem 80 on rod 18, and raise handle 82 and rod 18 together so as to bring collar 86 and shoulder 81 into contact with each other. The slots 58 and 60 in tubular members I0 and l2 permit this upward movement of handle 82, nut 16, collar 14 and cross head 62. is tightened against collar 14 to hold cross head 62 tightly against the inner wall of tubular member |2. When collar 86 is forced upwardly by rod 18,-the linkage system 80-92 causes disengagement of gears 44 and 54 and brings into engagement gears 42 and 54, thereby reversing the rotation of brush shaft 36; it also drives the linkage system IIO| |2 to cause valve stem |08 to rotate relative to valve body |06 through substantially a 90 degree arc, thereby closing the valve and cutting off the fluid supply to the pipe |24; it also drives the linkage system II6II8 to cause the upward shifting of pipe |24 through the arcuate slots |26 from the lower to the upper limits thereof, thereby bringing the dry pipe |24 into rubbing engagement with the clockwise rotating brushes 38 to rid said brushes of as much iiuid as possible so that said Then, nut 16 brushes are better able to wipe clean the scrubbed walls.

The over-al1 length of tubular members I0 and I2 may be changed at will according to the height of the walls or ceilings to be cleaned. It is only necessary to loosen thumb screw I3 and handle 82, thus freeing the members |0 and I2 and rod 18 so that members I0 and I2 may be moved in either direction relatively to one` another while keeping rod 18 in its original position, and then tightening the screw |3 and handle 82 into place.

While the invention has been described with some detail it is not intended that the description be definitive of the limits of the inventive idea. The right is reserved to make such changes in the details'of construction and arrangement of parts as will come within the purview of the attached claims.

What I claim is: i

l. A cleaning apparatus comprising a handle having a head, a brush supported by said head, means for rotating said brush in one direction, means for supplying a cleaning iiuid to said brush, said second means including a spray mem-A ber spaced from said brush, and means for causing the reversal of rotation of said brush, said third means simultaneously efiectuating the inoperation of said second means and bringing said spray member into rubbing contact with said brush.

2. A cleaning apparatus comprising a rotatable shaft with driven means thereon, a brush on said shaft and rotatable therewith in one direction, a second shaft with driving means thereon in rotatable driving engagement with said driven means, means for rotating said second shaft, means including a spray member for conducting a supply of cleaning fluid to said brush and spraying said brush therewith, a valve for controlling said fluid supply, and means connected to said driven means, said spray member and said valve and operable for simultaneously causing reversal of the rotatable direction of said driven means, contacting said brush with said spray member and closing said valve.

3. In an apparatus of the character vdescribed comprising, a brush having an axis of rotation and supported vfor movement thereabout, a spray member supportable in either of two positions, one of said positions being a position whereat said brush and said member are co-engageable and the other'of said positions being a position whereat said brush and said member are spaced from 'each other, control means for a cleaning uid supply for said spray member, and means cooperable with said spray member and said control means for disposing said member in said second position therefor and actuating said control means for the introduction of said iluid to said brush during a washing operation and for disposing said member in said rst position therefor and actuating said control means for terminating said fluid introduction to said brush during a wiping operation.

4. A cleaning apparatus comprising a rotatnected to said driven means, said spray member and said valve and operable for simultaneously causing'reversal of the rotatable direction of said driven means, the shifting of said spray member into contact with said brush and the closing of said valve.

. WARREN sIsMAN. 2 

